“I was born while my mother was in an iron lung”: Elizabeth Mennell contracted polio at five months pregnant, spent three years in hospital, and gave birth to her daughter Susan in an iron lung

Elizabeth Mennell was 32, had a career in the British Foreign Office, and led an active life: she enjoyed hiking, nature, and swimming.

In 1956, five months into her second pregnancy, she contracted polio. The disease affected her legs, arms, and the muscles that enable breathing, and left her paralyzed.

She spent three years in hospital, much of that time inside an iron lung, the metal cylinder that breathed for her.

That’s where Susan, now 70, was born. According to Susan, her mother gave birth to her in the iron lung, although they probably opened the apparatus for the delivery.

The girl was born healthy, although polio mainly struck young children, and she didn’t speak until she was three.

Elizabeth returned home three years later, but never walked again or was able to carry her children.

The family normalized it in their own way: they would say that mum was in the iron lung “because she’d had a bit of a cold”.